Gwinnett Daily Post

Singer Mars facing felony cocaine charge

LAS VEGAS — Bruno Mars, singer of the hit R&B song ‘‘Just the Way You Are,’’ faces a felony cocaine charge stemming from his arrest after a performance at a Las Vegas nightclub last month.

The Clark County district attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint Friday alleging the rising singer-songwriter had 2.6 grams of cocaine when he was arrested Sept. 19 after being detained by a hotel security guard.

Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, is due in court Nov. 18 on the possession of a controlled substance charge. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

‘‘Just the Way You Are’’ is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Hernandez, 24, was in Las Vegas for a performance at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Wasted Space nightclub.

After the show, a bathroom attendant told police Hernandez was taking a long time in a stall with a bag of a white, powdered substance, according to the arrest report. The attendant alerted a security guard, who confronted Hernandez as he left the stall. The security guard said he asked Hernandez to hand over any narcotics he had, and Hernandez removed a bag of cocaine from his left-front jeans pocket, the report said.

Soundgarden releases new album through video game

NEW YORK — After a 13-year break, Soundgarden is releasing its new album through the ‘‘Guitar Hero’’ video game series — and its frontman believes it’s the perfect way to reintroduce the band to a new generation.

‘‘In the obvious way, it’s going to reach a certain amount of younger people that either may or may not know about Soundgarden,’’ frontman Chris Cornell said in a recent interview. ‘‘No matter what, I feel like releasing it this way is going to reach a lot of people who have not heard our music or have not heard a lot of it.’’

‘‘Telephantasm’’ is a retrospective CD that features some of the grunge band’s biggest hits from its 1990s heyday, as well as unreleased cuts.